Improvement in washing-machines



A. sqKIRKPATRIcK & A. c. BELL.

Improvement in .Washing-Machines. 'l

1531,881. l l A. .P-ate-nted Oct. 1, 1872.

UNITED 4S'rA'rEs PATE f rE.

ALEXANDER s. XiRXrA'rRIox AND ALEXANDER o. BELL, 0E NEW ALEX. l ANDRIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

nIMPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.'131,881`, dated October 1, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, A. S. KIRKPATRIGK and A. C. BELL, both of4 New Alexandria, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain -newand useful Improvements in Washing-Machines; and we'do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being `had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a sideelevation of our improved machine applied to atub, and Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawing indicate the same parts.

f Our invention has for its object to improve the construction and efficiency of. washingmachines of that class adapted for application to an ordinary wash-tub; and to this 'end it consists: lirst, in the means employed for holding the upper corrugated roller upon the smaller lower roller with an adjustable yielding pressure, the construction being such that the parts are applied without weakening the frame of the machine, as we will presently describe. It consists, secondly, in the method of applying the machine to an ordinary washtub.

In the 4accompanying drawing,A A represent the end pieces of the frame,vwhich are secured together by the top and bottom slats B. C is the smooth lower-roller, journaled in theend pieces immediately over the bottom slat; and D is the upper corrugated roller, made considerably larger in diameter than the lower roller, with its journals entering vertical slots e in the end pieces of the frame. The

adjustable pressure-frame is composed of two parallel bars, F Gr, the lower one of which is formed with a tenon at each end to enter the- J, secured at their lower ends to the bar F,

and passing loosely through the upper bar and the top slat. The pressure-frame holds theupper roller upon the clothes with a yielding pressure, and is adjusted by a thumbscrew, K, passing through the upper slat and bearin g upon the upper bar G for the purpose of regulating the degree of vpressure required.

By this construction of the pressure-frame the end pieces of the machine are not weakened, because they are not cut away for the reception of the upper bar, as in the ordinary machines, but only slotted for short distance. to receive the journals of the upper roller and the ends of the lower bar F, together with the pillow-blocks. The upper bar G is guided above the slots by the pins J, and the shoulders of the lower bar bear against the end pieces each side of the slots. The whole strength of the frame is, therefore, preserved, instead of being weakened, by the application ofthe operating parts.

In the .process of washing, the clothes are passed between the two rollers, as will be readily understood; and, inasmuch as but one small roller is used in connection with the large pressure-roller, small garments are not liable to be caught and prevented from being fed through, as would be the case if a number of small rollers were used arranged beside each other. j

L L are lateral arms projecting from the outer faces of the end pieces to receive the screw-shanks of the fastening-hooks M, as

shown.

To attach the machine to an ordinary washtub, it is placed across the top of the latter, rest-ing upon the lateral arms L. The hooks M are then caught under the lower chines of the tub, and tightened by the thumb-nuts N, applied'to the screw-shank's of the hooks above the lateral arms, as shown in the drawing. By this arrangement the machine is firmly secured to the tub without injuring the latter or disguring its exterior. The operating-crank O is applied to the journal of the pressure-roller in the usual manner.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim isl l. The pressure-frame of the washing-machine, consisting ofthe bar F, carrying 'pillowblocks h to bear upon the journals of the upper roller, the upper bar G, arranged between the end pieces of the frame, the pins J, secured to the lower bar and passing upward through both the upper bar and top slat B ofthe frame, and the thumb-screw K bearing upon said top bar G, the Whole constructed, arranged, and operating as herein shown and described.

2. The Washing-machine adapted to be attached to an ordinary Wash-tub by means of the lateral arms L and the adjustable suspended hooks M, the former resting upon the top of the tub, and the latter catching under its lower chine, substantially as herein shown and described.

ALEXANDER S. KIRKPATRIGK. Witnesses:

JAMES K. MooRHEAD, MILTON F. CORBETT.

ALEXANDER C. BELL. Witnesses:

WINDSOR KIRKPATRICK, DAVID NEWDIGHAM. 

